Movie Review: Hangover 2

Movie Review: Hangover 2 (2011)
Director: Todd Phillips
Cast: Bradley Cooper, Ed Helms, Zach Galifianakis, Paul Giamatti
Plot: “The Wolfpack is back,” or so the posters say, for this “comedy” about three semi-friends post-drinking adventures. In a very similar story to the first movie, the group go to Thailand for Stu’s (Helms) wedding and, of course, forget the entire evening. They wake up in Bangkok, and have to piece together their night before the big wedding day. Of course there are all kinds of shenanigans, and a particularly darker tone to the flick that I didn’t find particularly funny – but I’m sure it’ll still make $80 million+ at the box office.

***SPOILERS***
This movie is far too similar to the first, which I admit I just watched on Monday and then saw a pre-screening of this flick on Wednesday. Instead of a baby, in this flick they have a monkey. Instead of missing a tooth, Stu’s got a tattoo on his face. Mike Tyson shows up. I could go on, but I’ll try to keep it on track.

If you liked the first movie, you’ll probably dig this one. Although I found this movie to be better than the first, since the situations are much more intense and the group goes through a lot more trials and tribulations than the first. Unfortunately, this also translated into the flick being less funny than the first.

The probably I have with this (and the first) movie is that there are no consequences to the group’s actions. Stu gets a tattoo in this flick, but at the end when he shows up to the wedding (late) she’s like, “Well, I could learn to like it.” When her dad, who’s hated Stu the entire movie, see Stu stand up for himself for 5 minutes he’s like, “I’ve hated you for years, but now I approve of you marrying my daughter because you had balls for 5 seconds.”

I’m paraphrasing, of course, but the point is this: my suspension of disbelief needed to be left in the car to enjoy this movie, and I made the mistake of bringing it with me into the theater.

Basically, if you go in looking for more of the same from the first movie and don’t have a problem with the fact that characters aren’t going to act realistically, then you’ll enjoy this flick. I’ve always found my favorite comedy flicks to have characters react eccentrically or in an exaggerated manner, but in a way that was fitting for the character’s motivations and that moved the plot forward. This movie just seemed to ignore these things.

For example, one of the characters loses a finger. This character plays an instrument and is also going to school to be a surgeon, but when they wake up from their hang over (after 2 days stuck without water, dehydrated, and probably starving), they just ask, “Hey, where’s my finger?”

Nevermind the fact that your life and career are over at this point, dude. Everything you’ve been prepping for your entire life has ended because you’re missing a finger. But does the character care about this? No. They’re actually happy because they had a fun night that they can’t remember.

Next time you wake up not remembering the night before and you’re missing a finger, let me know if you react the same way.

Anyway, I recommend skipping the flick – but again, I’m probably not the target audience for this movie and I’m sure it’ll make more money in it’s opening weekend than I’ll make in my lifetime.